New York City – Mayor Michael Bloomberg presented an environmental award to the artist who created the “Waterfalls” art installation on New York City’s East River on Friday, despite criticism that its salty spray might be damaging trees and plants.
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The mayor gave the 2008 Doris C. Freedman Award to Danish artist Olafur Eliasson and the Public Art Fund, the organization that commissioned the four manmade waterfalls.
The award, named for the fund’s founder who also was a former director of the city’s cultural affairs department, was established in 1982 to honor people or groups that enrich the environment.
“The Waterfalls have had a major impact on New York City, and I’m not just talking about the glowing critical reception they received or the financial benefits we have received from the many visitors,” Bloomberg said in a statement.
He was referring to earlier predictions that the project would generate more than $55 million in economic activity as visitors spent money on boat excursions, hotels and restaurants. Updated estimates of how much revenue had actually been produced were not available Friday.
“This project proclaims that New York City is home to bold visions and visionaries,” the mayor’s statement said.
Last month, the Public Art Fund announced it was cutting the installation’s operating hours in half after the Brooklyn Heights Association complained that mist from the falls was destroying trees and plants on the Brooklyn Promenade. The association had asked the city to dismantle the installation after Labor Day.
Judy Stanton, the association’s president, said Friday while she wasn’t in a position to comment on Eliasson’s artistic reputation and congratulated him on the honor, she “wished that he and others associated with the art project took into account the environmental impact that saltwater blown by winds from the waterfalls could have on the promenade garden.”
The $15.5 million installation, which runs through Oct. 13, was funded by donations from individuals, foundations and corporations, including Bloomberg’s media company Bloomberg LP, and state funds.
After passing it each day, i still haven’t figured out its artistic features and overall contribution to art.
Every time I pass by these so called waterfalls, I wonder to myself how is it possible that there are so many people in this world that are crazy enough to call this art
What a waste of money.it another sign that Mayor Bloomberg is out of touch.lets remember a $115- parking ticket in Bloomberg dollars is about (estimating he earns $500mil a year the avg ny’are $50thousand)that’s 10,000times $115= $115000
Stupid, rackbrained, idiotic, insanely irresponsible, pudding head, imbecile, cretin, moron, changeling, half-wit, and retard!!!
And ‘we the people’ of NYC are giving him the highest ratings!!
Go figure!?
oh look, another venue for a bunch of clowns who don’t know anything about art to complain about our country giving support to the arts. great!
Stupid, rackbrained, idiotic, insanely irresponsible, pudding head, imbecile, cretin, moron, changeling, half-wit, and retard!!!
And ‘we the people’ of NYC are giving him the highest ratings!!
Go figure!?
Yawn, did you ever hear th stry about the “naked emperor”?… same story, a waste of taxpayers money for a sloppy piece of so called “art”.
I will be giving the “artist” an award too but the award will look like something that represents the project and its effect on the city…….
A LARGE COMMERCIAL TRASH DUMPSTER!
I vomit every time I pass these “waterfalls”. How can a human being call this “art”? How can a human being spend so much money on this super-stupid thing? How can Honorable Mayor Bloomberg ignore the thousands of critisized comments? Why can’t we spend the money on so much more important issues?? Let’s organize a huge protest!!
But atleast you see why it was so important to increase the parking tickets and keep on raising our taxes.. to pay for this stupid art works..
My gosh!
Is there nobody left in this country who appreciates fine art?
15 million for art like that is a bargain! It’s beautiful! Millions of people go to Niagra Falls every year….. for what?! Exactly, Water Falls!
P.S. Why are you all so jealous that Mike is rich? Get off your tuchis and make your own living. Quit complaining. He wasn’t born rich.
Dumbest waste of money i have ever seen.
shmilfke, did you smoke something? how can you compare those things to niagara falls?
in all honesty, my husband and i have passed those things many times and could not figure out what purpose it served. it didn’t even enter our minds that this was supposed to be “pretty” until we heard the broohaha surrounding it.
seriously, we were trying to figure out if the were going to put turbines in nyc. it looks more functional than artistic.
and re: bloomberg and his money – let him enjoy it gezunterheit. it’s not like he stole it from anyone. he earned it. good for him.
Isn’t it beautiful? Every steel bar was carefully carved to fasten properly with another carefully created steel bar. You have vertical bars and horizontal bars in such a beautiful arrangement. The water is even prettier a sight. Sometimes you see white water, sometimes black water and on rare occasions grey water. Seeing it change colors is awful. Its height is something to behold. It rises a good 100 feet and the drop is spectacular. We need another five for another fifteen million dollars, because it’s unfair that only we get to see and behold such a sight. Our neighbors deserve it too. Let’s make phone calls and start writing letters, that WE WANT MORE!!!
The salt spray from the Governor’s Island waterfall has caused damage to masonry of historic buildings and and nearby trees and is now closed. While an interesting artisitc innovation, the location of some was completely wrongheaded and thoughtless.